Disneyland

So I finally finished my last class, just days before we were scheduled to leave for California.  Scott's brother John just returned from a two year mission to South Africa, so we were going down for a couple of weeks of family and fun.  William and Elizabeth had so much fun while we were there.

On the drive down we saw a really pretty sunset

We drove for a really long time

Long enough for my car to reach 100,000 miles

After we drove to California, we all went to pick up Uncle John at the airport.  I would have taken pictures, but my silly camera ran out of batteries just before he came off the plane.  Oh well.  We went to Tommy's on the way home.

 Elizabeth met her Uncle John for the first time
This picture was taken a day or two after we brought John home from the airport
Elizabeth really warmed up to him

She especially like playing with old cell phones

Elizabeth loved crawling around on the floor

She's so cute!

And such a little poser

We had spaghetti for dinner one night

Elizabeth really loved it, this was her third helping

We had a lot of fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  For William, the highlight of the trip was definitely Disneyland.  He's still talking about it.

The first day we bought mouse ear hats
William wore his for a while, but Elizabeth took hers off immediately
She had more fun playing with it than wearing it

 We found a rainbow over Disneyland
The Disneyland staff were as excited as the guests about it
Which was pretty cute

Once the kids were done with their hats we attached them to the top of the stroller
This also happens to be William's first look at Cars Land, his favorite part of Disneyland

 We met Mater

William liked talking to him

And Red

As we were talking to Red, Lighting came driving around the corner
William was so excited

William really enjoyed meeting Lightning

We rode the flying tires

But William's favorite ride was the baby tractors

Elizabeth was too little to go, so Grandma stayed with her to watch
Although, Grandma did get to go on the tractors since we rode the baby tractors several times
Did I mention that it was William's favorite ride?

After one ride we met a baby tractor in the "tractor petting zoo"

Elizabeth especially had fun standing on the little tractor

We also went to Toon Town, where William met Pluto

 William had so much fun driving the cars
He drove the fire engine

 And the red convertible

And the blue convertible

  We also found another red convertible to drive

 We wandered around Mickey's house

William played Mickey's piano

 
 And found a birthday cake and enjoyed 'blowing the candles'

Does this little guy look familiar? 

William went on his first roller coaster
He didn't like it much, maybe in a couple of years

 Elizabeth and Daddy stayed and chatted while we were on the roller coaster
William wasn't very happy when Mommy and Daddy went back on the coaster

 We also found a fun ship to play on
Here's William at the wheel

 And looking through the porthole

 William and Grandma went on the Merry-Go-Round
William just saw this picture and said,
"I'm riding the sea horse"
What a smart kid!

 William met Mickey Mouse

 What a cute boy!

Mickey Mouse family picture

 Elizabeth wasn't so sure about the whole thing

 We saw Buzz Lightyear and William got to "shoot things"

 

We went over to Pirate's Island
William had fun exploring caves, as long as Daddy and the flashlight were nearby
Eventually we discovered the pirate's treasure

 It's a Rose family tradition to eat clam chowder in bread bowls at Disneyland
Elizabeth liked the sourdough bowl tops

She got a little sleepy
Oh I guess I'll eat

What a full and content baby!

Last of all we went on Winnie-the-Pooh's ride
William found a honey pot just outside

Well, we spent a fun three days at Disneyland.  We did much more than what we took pictures of.  We watched the fireworks from the roof of the hotel.  Elizabeth's favorite ride was "It's a Small World."  I think in part because the ride is made up of dancing dolls in fancy outfits.  All in all, it was a great trip.  William gained more swimming confidence.  He no longer has to hold someone's hand while swimming, as long as he has his life vest on.  I still can't get him to lay on his back though.  I got to do a little gardening (albeit on a roof) and William got to run around the backyard a lot.  Elizabeth just enjoyed crawling around after the cat. She even tasted his food, before Mommy took her out of the kitchen and Grandma and Grandpa closed it off.  I think Coal (the kitty-cat) is now enjoying a child-free house.  William and Elizabeth are now enjoying being home and having the whole house to run around in; especially after all the driving we did towards the end of our trip.  Now it's on to the next adventure!